


yeah I just want them to be besties again

by alainey



Series: Old Stuff from League of Fics [5]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen, Institute of War mention, M/M, Rivalry, it doesn't have to be shippy but it is, this is extremely outdated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 00:11:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18354593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alainey/pseuds/alainey
Summary: As a child, Shen had been trained to disregard his every emotion. He knew the demands that would be placed on him, as the potential leader of the Kinkou Order, and understood the lack of emotion he’d need to fulfill them. He accepted this duty without question, and, as a result, many feelings—resentment, anger, sympathy, love—had been all but lost to him.Zed was the one who changed that.-Written for the prompt: Shen and Zed being best friends when they were kids then meeting again on the battlefields of justice.





	yeah I just want them to be besties again

As a child, Shen had been trained to disregard his every emotion. He knew the demands that would be placed on him, as the potential leader of the Kinkou Order, and understood the lack of emotion he’d need to fulfill them. He accepted this duty without question, and, as a result, many feelings—resentment, anger, sympathy, love—had been all but lost to him.

Zed was the one who changed that.

When he was with Zed, Shen had become competitive, immature, and rebellious—everything that he’d trained himself not to be. He couldn’t control the way his blood boiled whenever the older boy had taunted him, couldn't seem to say no to any new test of strength that he’d been challenged to. And, at the time, he hadn't found it in himself to care.

He knew in his heart that it was all so stupid (he was definitely above seeing who could make a flat rock skip the most times on the Master’s pond), yet Shen had still allowed himself to get swept along in the other’s juvenile schemes. He'd embraced the few emotions that Zed had made him feel, and he'd cherishes them.

It had been through those childish games, pranks, and laughable conversations about the girls their age that Zed becomes Shen’s best friend—a person that, until then, Shen had never believed he’d allow himself to have.

(Friends. How strong their bond had been.)

Shen shouldn't have been surprised when everything went wrong, because how could it not? He wasn't destined for a path of friendship, of love. He should never have allowed himself to grow partial to another person, but he had done just that. And it had all come crashing down in one single fateful night—when Shen had watched the head of his Master, his own father, roll before Zed’s feet. 

Because of that, Shen's lack of emotional ties becomes more than just a duty—it becomes a choice. Zed becomes his reason not to feel. After that night, Shen had taken care to lock every past emotion that he’d granted himself deep within his heart, and had fully embraced the balance and unwavering impartiality that came with leading the Kinkou Order. Shen had vowed to himself that he’d never allow his judgement to be swayed away again.

In the end, Shen hadn't been surprised the first time he saw his rival appear on Summoner’s Rift, his shadows caressing unfaltering steps. 

A deep, dispassionate (and recognizable, so recognizable) voice had greeted him that day.

And Shen had surprised himself then, when he realized his blood still had the ability to boil.

**Author's Note:**

> These two were my second League ship I think? And this was the first fic I wrote for them. Did a little bit of editing for flow because this was written back in 2014, but most of it has been left unchanged I think. 
> 
> Crossposted from leagueoffics. Find me [here](https://twitter.com/alainey_lee) on twitter!


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